


Teamwork

by Causa



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-29
Updated: 2017-08-29
Packaged: 2018-12-21 08:54:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11940681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Causa/pseuds/Causa
Summary: "Off to hunt some gems?" Garnet said."M-Maybe," Amethyst said, more quietly. The thought of hitting things was very appealing.





	Teamwork

Amethyst rolled on her side and sighed. She had been trying to rest, trying to slow her breathing and shut her eyes and get her mind to quiet, at least for a while, but for the past half hour she had been distracted by the faint voices of Garnet and Pearl from outside the temple door and they were beginning to grow louder. With a groan, Amethyst shoved her hands over her ears. 

"I'm tired of this!" she heard Garnet yell. "I'm tired of hearing about this!" 

"Who else am I supposed to talk to?" Pearl's voice was high. "Amethyst?" 

"Maybe you should, since I can hear you!" Amethyst shouted, getting up. She left her room and glared at them. "I can't get _any_ peace and quiet anywhere anymore!" 

"Amethyst!" Pearl exclaimed, her face flushed. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Who cares!" she said, crossing her arms. "Enough of it." 

Pearl said nothing and was looking at the floor. 

"I'm so tired of this! I'm leaving!" 

"Off to hunt some gems?" Garnet said. 

"M-Maybe," Amethyst said, more quietly. The thought of hitting things was very appealing. 

"I'll go with you if you do," said Garnet. 

"Really?" Amethyst felt her insides flutter. It had been ages, it felt like, since they spent any time together.

"Sure." Garnet grinned at her, then her face went flat as she turned to Pearl. "We shouldn't be long." 

"Go as long as you want. I don't care," Pearl said, walking past the two of them to the warp pad. 

"Let's go on foot," said Garnet. 

Amethyst nodded and followed her. They walked in silence past the beach, the buildings, grass and trees, and empty ground. Finally, Garnet said, "I know things have been different since Rose left us." 

"That's the understatement of the century." 

"I want you to know I'm doing the best I can," said Garnet, and she stopped for a moment. "To make Rose happy—if she were still here. I've been trying to do what she wanted." 

"Well, me too," Amethyst said. "Don't get me wrong—I like Steven. It's funny watching him learning things and how he keeps growing and everything. I like him. It's just he's not Rose. I'd rather have her back." 

Garnet sighed quietly. "I know how you feel," she said, and began walking again. "I don't think we'll always feel that way." 

"Maybe _we_ won't," said Amethyst. 

"Pearl will get better," Garnet said. 

"I dunno," said Amethyst, pressing her lips together. "I used to be mad at Rose for leaving. Now I'm just mad at Pearl for being so weird about it." 

Garnet uttered a small, quick laugh. 

"She's so—it's like she's not even trying half the time," continued Amethyst. "Like she's the only one that misses her. I think about her every day." 

"I do too," said Garnet. 

"And we used to have so much fun together! I mean we would train sometimes, but we'd go exploring together and she'd tell me stories and we'd—I don't know, do things. Now it's all 'Pay attention, Amethyst,' 'You wouldn't do that during a mission, would you, Amethyst,' 'You should be practicing instead of just lying around, Amethyst,' 'I can't think about anything but training training training, Amethyst!'" She groaned. 

Garnet laughed. "She was like that, a lot, during the war, too."

"Ugh, how did you not go crazy?" 

Garnet shrugged. "She was keeping us on track. It was useful." 

"Whatever."

"She's trying to do what she can," said Garnet. "I—I guess." 

"You guess?" 

"It's frustrating to me, too." 

Amethyst smiled. 

"I'm a bit jealous of you, Amethyst." 

"Uh, what?" 

"You can get along with the humans," said Garnet, veering right. "You can spend time with them. Even ones that aren't Greg. Besides Pearl I've just got myself to keep me company." 

"O–oh," said Amethyst, feeling her face getting hot. "Uh, hey, if you ever want to hang out with Vidalia and me—you know, just let me know." Amethyst looked up at Garnet, whose face was forward. "Not that we hang out like we used to," she muttered. 

"We're almost there," Garnet said. Amethyst nodded, and drew her weapon. 

"What are we up against?" Amethyst said, clenching her fists, chest tightening, breaths quickening. 

"Not many," Garnet said quietly. "Look there." 

Twenty feet away there were 3 dark creatures standing beside one another. 

"They're huge," whispered Amethyst. 

Garnet smiled. "Nervous?" 

"No way!" Amethyst exclaimed, and charged forward, raising her whip.

"Amethyst!" Garnet shouted. 

Amethyst struck two of the three with the first flick of her wrist; the creatures shrieked and fell back. As the largest of them charged toward her, she dashed to the right, felt the air from its strike on her cheek. Stumbling backward, she tightened her grip on the whip's handle, and slashed three times. She smiled in satisfaction as its form disappeared in a cloud of fog. She heard Garnet's voice and low steps behind her and felt sudden pain in her side and her head hit the hard ground. She jumped to her feet as the sound of Garnet's footsteps entered her ears. 

"I can do this myself!" Amethyst shouted, summoning another whip and stumbling forward. She turned to face the two monsters and began encircling them, dodging their hits, moving faster and faster until everything around her began to blur, but she knew exactly where she was and exactly where those beasts were, felt the grip of her whips in her hand and knew exactly where they would hit. She slowed herself and spiraled outward, striking downward; one of them dissipated into the air, its gem resting at her feet. She turned her head to look at the last one; it was moving backwards fast. She swung her arm around and out, lassoed the fleeing creature and pulled it towards her. She struck with her other arm and the beast disintegrated.

Amethyst turned, grinning, to Garnet. "See! I told you!" 

Garnet moved toward her slowly, bubbling the gems as she passed them. "Nicely done." 

Amethyst felt fire reaching through her body, from feet to face, felt her heart racing, pumping, powerful. "You and Pearl always treat me like I'm some fragile little child. But I was made for this!" 

"Who told you that?" Garnet asked quietly. 

"Who told—Rose!" shouted Amethyst. "Rose did! She told me I could do anything. When I said I wanted to be like her, she said that's good because I'm perfect for it." 

Garnet's expression softened. "Oh—of course." 

"Yeah, of course," Amethyst said. 

"Pearl and I—the reason we treat you differently, it's because—"

"I know, I know. I wasn't there for the war. I don't have as much experience as you." 

Garnet hesitated for a moment then nodded. 

"So let me get it!" Amethyst said. "Especially now that we're down someone—I know we're not fighting as many of these things as we should. And I know you and Pearl go fight them without me. I know you go by yourself, too." 

Garnet nodded. 

"But—but we're a team. We should act like it."

"You're right, Amethyst." 

The two walked back to the temple in near-silence. "So—were you expecting them to be that big?" Amethyst said. 

Garnet nodded. 

"But you let me tag along. And you didn't step in." Amethyst smiled. "Because you knew I could handle it?" 

Garnet nodded. 

"Wish Pearl would get the memo." 

"She—" Garnet began, and paused. "You do need more training. You _were_ a bit reckless." 

"Oh, come on!" said Amethyst, stopping. "I thought you thought I did a good job." 

"You did," said Garnet. "But they won't always be that slow." 

Amethyst sighed. "Can't you just be proud of me for five seconds?" 

"I am." 

Amethyst crossed her arms. "You know, Rose—she'd have let me have this."

"I'm not her!" shouted Garnet, her voice cracking. "You and Pearl, both of you—" she paused and wiped under her visor. "I'm not going to tell you that you never make any mistakes. Or that we're the best and that we can do anything and that we're perfect. We're not. We all do things that slow each other down. And—and I don't know how to fix it. I don't know if she did either." 

"Woah, Garnet. I didn't mean—" Amethyst stopped speaking and narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean you don't know if she did either? We never fought like this when she was around. We never had any problems when she was around." 

"Not that you knew about," Garnet said. 

"What does—" Amethyst grew quiet and started walking again, quickly. "Whatever. Let's just get back." 

"Amethyst—"

"Let's hurry up and go."


End file.
